Friday, April 30, 2010

Traditional publisher HarperCollins has established an internet site for writers called authonomy, where writers can post novels or portions of novels. The best are reviewed by editors. I have posted my fantasy novel The Stone Dragon on this site.

Online writer site QueryTracker, in cooperation with various literary agents, hosts contests for its writers to submit their killer queries, short pitches, or first five pages. Winners get the option to connect with a literary agent.

Award-winning author of more than twenty fiction and non-fiction works, Edgar Wiseman has self-published his collection of flash fiction, Briefs, through Lulu (with heavy recognition and acknowledgment by that publisher).

In an earlier post, I discussed how some traditional publishers are now adopting a self-publishing opportunity for authors. Modern technology, both for creating a sales base through social networking and for easy-inexpensive yet high-quality book printing, has created many new and viable options for the writer, the publisher, and the reader.

How will all this shake out? Care for a prediction or two?

I believe traditional authors will gain the ability to self-publish when the book is out of print--or, at the least, will publish with the agreement that the book will be available on Print on Demand after the initial sales die down. This will allow the author to continue to sell books (even in a diminished number) after the book is out of print. Otherwise, it is the used book sellers that receives the profit.

I believe more first-time authors will self-publish, and online contests and competitive/cooperative sites will allow the "gate-keeping" process to separate the well-written from the rest. This will create the opportunity for agents and traditional publishers to "discover" talent, for writers to present their work and achieve recognition that can be used for promotion, and for readers to feel more confident that a self-published book is well-written.

I'm sure the process of establishing the means to accomplish these goals will be a joy to behold and a sometimes-terror to endure. It's wonderful to live in exciting times.

1 comment:

Those are some great opportunities! I think a lot of self-publishers find that the publishing process itself is the easy part, getting your work out there is what's so hard. Thanks for sharing these links and ideas!